First place for le Blevec

French round the world sailor wins Transat 6.50 Charente-Maritime/Bahia

Yves le Blevec and his faithful Mini Actual crossed the finish line of the Transat 6.50 Charente-Maritime/Bahia at 17:53:02 GMT today to take not only first place in the second leg from Funchal, Madeira to the Brazil port, but also the overall race win on combined elapsed time.

Le Blevec made the 3,050 mile passage in 17 days 6 hours 38 minutes and 2 second at an average speed of 7.36 knots. His combined elapsed time is 23 days 3 hours 51 minutes and 24 seconds.

While the course for this year's race stopped over in Madeira rather than Puerto Calero, Lanzarote, it is otherwise similar with the start in La Rochelle. In 2005 winner Corentin Douguet to 24 days 21 hours 36 minutes while in 2003 winner Armel Tripon took 29 days 13 hours and 25 minutes while in 2001 Yannick Bestaven finished in just over 30 days.